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Council of Residential Specialists - CRS
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Boomers Planning On Active Retirement
Seniors Real Estate Specialist
A whopping 91 percent of older baby boomers - those now aged 48-52 --
expect to be happy during their retirement years and a majority of them
say they are better prepared financially and emotionally for retirement
than their parents were, according to a new nationwide survey by Del Webb
Corporation of "Sun City" fame.
Older boomers are nonetheless fretful about affording a lengthy retirement.
More than 60 percent of the 800 people surveyed believe they won't have
enough money to retire at age 55 and approximately 20 percent plan to
work at least 20 hours a week after they "retire."
Half of the boomers surveyed didn't know how much money they will need
to retire. Nearly 40 percent of those who did know expect to need $500,000
or more. Smaller cohorts expect to need as little as $250,000 or more
than $1 million to be able to retire.
Education is on boomers' minds as well. Twenty-eight percent of those
surveyed said they plan to go back to school during their retirement years.
Source: Del Webb News
2. Life Stages of Tomorrow's Seniors
Now approaching their late 40s and early 50s, today's baby boomers will
encounter a number of lifestyles as they age, including the following
situations:
-- Back-to-work. Boomers will have the option of making later-in-life
career changes and working part-time or at home.
-- Care-giving. Adult boomers will be assisting their elderly parents
with long-term care decisions and, in many instances, providing care to
the older generation.
-- Empty nesters. Baby boomer seniors are expected to have ample free
time and financial resources for recreational activities, luxury shopping
and extended travel.
-- Single Living. Divorced or widowed seniors can adopt an independent
social lifestyle later in life. Most of the boomer-generation senior singles
will be women.
-- Retirement. More than 40 million people in the United States will be
retired for two decades or longer.
Source: Guide to Retirement Living,
Summer/Fall 1999
3. Fight Back: Home Repair Scams
Elderly low-income seniors long have been a favored target among home
repair scam artists, who sell unnecessary and overpriced "home improvements"
and even go so far as to attach liens to the homes of seniors who refuse
to pay for shoddy or incomplete work, according to the National Consumer
Law Center. Seniors can protect themselves from unscrupulous contractors
by following these tips:
-- Never purchase home improvement services from a door-to-door contractor
or on the basis of a television commercial.
-- Always get a second estimate for the same job from another contractor
before you sign a contract for work to be performed.
-- Always get a written contract or estimate that describes the job, the
price, the hourly rate for any additional work and the contractor's clean-up
responsibilities.
-- Get references and call them.
-- Visit other job sites to review work previously preformed by the contractor.
-- Watch out for bait-and-switch tactics and shady financing schemes.
Source: National Consumer Law Center
4. Early Payments Benefit Lender, Not Borrower
Sending your monthly mortgage payments to your lender a couple of weeks
early each month might sound like a smart-money way to pay less interest
over the life of your home loan. In fact, early monthly payments simply
give the lender free use of your money until the date when your payment
is due. Loan payment tracking systems typically record your payments on
the first day of the month, regardless of when you send your check or
have the payment withdrawn from your account. That means making monthly
payments early doesn't reduce the total interest you'll pay over the life
of your loan. By the same logic, borrowers who pay late, but within the
grace period (usually 15 days) get free use of the lender's money. This
system is counterintuitive because it penalizes early payers and rewards
late payers, but that's the way it works.
Source: "When Should Seniors Prepay Their Mortgages?" Jack M. Guttentag,
June 1, 1999.
The Senior Advantage Real Estate Council and/or SRES
are not responsible in any manner for direct or indirect damages, howsoever
caused, arising out of or from the use of this website, or the reliance
on the information it contains. Links to other websites or references
to products, services or publications other than those of SAREC or SRES
do not imply the endorsement or approval of such websites, products, services
or publications by the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council.
Copyright Tim Corliss, Senior Advantage
Real Estate Council
1997 All rights reserved.
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